A Tale of Two Homeschool Room Ideas
A comparison of two different approaches to setting up your homeschool room. These homeschool room ideas are sure to inspire your setup! Read more.
If you are anything like me, the thought of organizing your homeschool room can get you a little excited (and…maybe a bit overwhelmed). There are so many homeschool room ideas out there, I thought I would share two that I’ve used in the past and what has worked best for our family.
The Official Room
My first official schoolroom was, well, official. I wanted it to resemble a classroom as closely as possible. “Everyone, the bell has rung, let’s stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance. “
Each student had desk space and a handwriting strip. I even had alphabet cards for the wall. It was picture perfect.
I made these desks out of some scrapbooking organizers I found at a craft store. When they were on sale for half off, they were a much better deal than the filing cabinet style desks that I was desiring from Pottery Barn Kids (the whole thing was over $1000 less).
I LOVED this space because it kept all of the kids’ supplies, notebooks, and projects organized. The alphabet cards were from Veritas Press, which comes as part of the Phonics Museum. They feature beautiful and authentic works of art. We painted a blue rectangle on the wall and put up corkboard squares to feature the children’s artwork. The center board is also cork board covered with some red fabric. On the center board, you will find our schedule and several pictures of the missionary families that we pray for.
Also in the schoolroom was a computer table. We converted one of the walls to a giant whiteboard by putting up a shower board and some molding (the project was $40 and took about an hour). The center of the room was complete with a table (similar to this one) for group work and teaching times with mom.
Being a former classroom teacher, there is rarely a lack of teaching materials. I struggled to find a place for all of my treasures. The picture on the left shows the organizational cube (similar to this one) that was used mostly for tot school. My two-year-old had toys, books, and other things to keep him busy on this shelf. On top were daily folders with work for the girls and a pencil sharpener.
The middle picture shows our IKEA shelf. It holds three shelves of children’s books, followed by curriculum, easy readers, and chapter books at the very top (which are not visible in the picture). The final tower is two of the organizational cubes mentioned above, plus a few assorted containers on the sides. The tower held math manipulatives, games, handwriting tools, art supplies, etc.
I absolutely loved this schoolroom, and it worked beautifully for a few years. Then we moved. The new house did not have space for a schoolroom. By this time in my homeschooling journey, I had begun to learn that school worked well mixed with everyday life. I wanted to wash dishes while supervising a math lesson or bake muffins while calling spelling words. More and more, I was finding that school was being carried into the kitchen.
Multi-Functional Room
So when we moved, I made the big change and cut out the schoolroom altogether. Instead, we made school a part of our living space. This is a great homeschool room idea if you’re working with limited space.
Our home is small with the living room, dining room, and kitchen all within a few feet of each other. So I bought the IKEA Kallax shelf and used it to divide the dining room and the living room. The kids enjoy reading on the couch or a soft pillow in the corner. The computer is in full view, so I can both monitor and be of assistance.
This is the dining room area. I converted it to office space. To the left is an eat-in kitchen where the children do table work when needed. To the right is the living room with the couch and computer. This center space is where I spend a lot of time. From this chair, I can see what most everyone is doing at any given time. I can offer assistance when needed or redirect a child who has gotten off task.
Most of our materials are stored in the IKEA cube on the right. It has 25 cubes, each with a 12×12 space. The magazine files are the perfect place to store curriculum. I have one for each subject, plus any as-needed topics. On the second row, far right, you will see three binders. These binders are annual notebooks. Each child makes one for each grade level.
Also in this space is my desk and another computer that the kids can use. This comes in very handy as we use computer programs for much of our school curriculum. (The laundry basket is a temporary fix, I haven’t found a table in the right price range yet!)
I love the new schoolroom. It fits our needs very well. I do find that I have to store materials that we aren’t currently using in a closet downstairs to free up cube space in our school area. This rarely causes a problem. I love that we can cuddle on the couch and read together or that I can finish up the lunch dishes while supervising math.
If you’d like even more specifics as to the details of what we put on our bookshelves, I wrote a post detailing what we put in each cubby. You can check out those homeschool room ideas by clicking here.
If you’re wanting even more organizational ideas, you can check out my Pinterest board dedicated to all things homeschool organization!
Your turn…what does your schoolroom look like? Do you have some homeschool room ideas I’ve missed? Do you prefer a separate schoolroom or a family room? Why?
Through practical tools & Bible-based resources, Kim Sorgius is dedicated to helping your family GROW in faith so you can be Not Consumed by life’s struggles. Author of popular kid’s devotional Bible studies and practical homeschooling tools, Kim has a master’s degree in education and curriculum design coupled with over 2 decades of experience working with kids and teens. Above all, her most treasured job is mother and homeschool teacher of four amazing kiddos.
Oh that sounds exactly like us! Last year I had an official room in the basement with metal desks and everything. Very official. Then this year I realized that school can happen amongst our regular life not sequestered in a (cold, dreary) room. So we brought everything upstairs(LIGHT! WARMTH!). Now My 2nd grader can lay on the floor and work on phonics while i am working in the kitchen! It was such a revelation to me lol I do need some bookshelves as ALL of our school supplies and what not are just stuck in the corner of my dining room( mama no like), but still better then our old set up. =)
How did you make that whiteboard “wall”? I want one of those!
It’s just shower board from Home Depot. Just attach it to the wall. It’s simple!
I am really curious how you posted your schedule. It looks like you have little square with magnets. I am guessing that each colored magnet is one of your children. I’d love to see how you did your schedule. Thanks for sharing your organizational ideas. I have a school room with a chalkboard I got for free when a school was being demolished. I used to have desks but now I prefer Costco folding tables–they are adjustable and versatile! We school all over the house though–where ever its most comfortable–and clean! Its hard to manage chores, meals, school and everything. I’d love for you to share your schedule board. Thanks!
The schedule is actually tiny sticky notes. It’s from Managers of Their Homes. http://www.titus2.com/managers-of-their-homes.html
We too started out with a very formal homeschool room complete with vintage school desks. Half was through the year we were in the kitchen every day anyways! This year we have a hybrid. All of our work boxes/school room is in our office but we do the majority of our school work at the kitchen table. There is also a desk in the office where my older daughter often works while I work with her younger sisters in the other room. It has been wonderful! We still use the homeschool room for cirlce time and mapping but it is more of a place to keep everything organized.
I am also struggling with having a formal school room or using living space. I love your living school space! Btw How do you like the museum phonics? I was contemplating this kit but haven’t ever used a phonics set to compare. Thanks for sharing.:)
I have never used the phonics museum. I bought those cards at a used curriculum sale. I thought they were beautiful. 🙂 I do like the concept behind the phonics museum though. It’s just a little costly.
Do you have an eating space? Our kitchen/dining room area is so small that I struggle with the table being school or food but rarely both!
We eat and do school on the same table. It forces us to always pick up after an activity- whether that is eating or schooling!
Love both rooms! I do believe I see a copy of “The Well-Trained Mind!” I love that book, we use it for our homeschooling as well. Nice rooms!
I love the schoolroom. I have an education background working in preschools and with elementary school aged children. I have always had a love for the bright imagery on the walls and the colorful tables and chairs but my current status is nothing like that. Due to my living space I have converted part of my bedroom to a mini office/schoolroom space and my daughter has a desk with her writing materials in the small foyer of the house. My entire living space has become a schoolroom including the dining room table. Although my desire is to homeschool in a schoolroom space, the reality is our homeschool space is part of our living space and it does work for us.
It’s funny that I just ran across this post! I was just talking to my husband about where to put the school room in our new house. Our last 2 houses we had a designated school room. Currently, while we are between houses we are living in a very tiny rental house and the only place we could do school was at the dining room table. What I’ve found is that I kinda like having the kids near the kitchen and laundry room. So we discussed when we move into the new house we’ll put the school table/shelves in the breakfast area instead of upstairs in the game room. Thanks for confirming our decision!
I am really interested in how you put together the scrapbooking organizers for desks. This would be perfect for my situation. Where did you buy the cube organizers and what did you use to lay across the tops as a desk surface? I have a 12” wall that I would like to accommodate 3 desk spaces using this technique. I haven’t been able to find anything like the organizers you picture in my search. Thanks!
These were done about 15 years ago, so I’m sure this exact thing isn’t available at this time. I did buy them at Michael’s though. Sorry I can’t be more help!